Response to the Junior Social Protection Minister on the Striking Teachers

Dear Editor,
I refer to Stabroek Newspapers dated September 2, 2018, caption” Striking teachers are selfish, uncaring”. I have some fundamental disagreement with the Junior Social Protection Minister Keith Scott, speaking at the Bursary Awards Ceremony of the Guyana Public Service Co-operative Credit Union (GPSCCU).
Mr. Minister, a strike is the coercive mechanism use by trade unions to press their demands for better salaries and wages, working hours, fringe benefits and working conditions.
A strike is the withholding of labour by a group of workers until such time as the demands of their union are met or an agreement on term has been negotiated, usually through conciliation.
Mr. Minister it must not be overlooked that under the Guyana Constitution workers have the right to belong to a trade union of their choice. That right is set out in chapter III, Fundamental Rights and Freedom of Individual, Article 40(1), (b). Further, Article 147 of the constitution guarantees that within certain societal constraints, no worker “shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of assembly and association.”
Mr. Minister it is around Article 147 that some controversy exists, for there are those who argue that collective bargaining is a fundamental right, since it is a logical extension, an adjunct of the right to form or belong to a trade union (freedom of association).
Mr. Minister complains can be made to the Committee on Freedom the Association of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Mr. Minister it must not be overlooked that in 1966, since Guyana became an independent nation, Guyana has ratified ILO Conventions Numbers. 87 and 98 on “Freedom of Association” and the “Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining,” and so we can also lodge complaints with the ILO, when and if the Conventions are violated.Yours Sincerely,Sherwood Clarke